I do not know if it has already been mentioned somewhere, but Xinjiang PBS is also still operating on 7120 from 0320 and on 7155 from 0300 in the evacuated band.(Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Apr 17)

Ethiopia and Eritrea monitoringEthiopia: 7110 Radio Ethiopia, 0314-0345, Apr 22. Man and woman with discussion in Amharic language. Segment of Horn of Africa vocals followed by a man announcer interviewing another man. ID at 0330 followed by news with Horn of Africa vocals at 0341. Good signal. (D'Angelo-PA/NAWA)

7110 Radio Ethiopia (Gedja Jewe), 0356-0410, 4/24/2009, Amharic. Horn of Africa music. Announcements by man at 0359. Talk by man at 0400 More music music at 0405. Good signal, audible here almost every night. Only this station and the Voice of the Broad Masses on 7175 / 7165 heard here in late evening local time in the 7100-7200 frequency range. (Jim Evans, TN)

7110 Radio Ethiopia, 0330-0350, April 26. Talk in listed Amharic. Horn of Africa music. Local pop music. Good signal. Fair on // 9704.19. Very weak on // 5990.63. (Alexander-PA)

Eritrea: 7175 / 7165 Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea (Asmera), 0353-0405, 4/24/2009, Amharic. Interval signal and recorded announcements, repeated. Jammer cranked up at 0359, tonight with about 10 seconds of loud music, then the usual jamming signal. VOBME switched to 7165 and was in the clear for 2 minutes with opening announcements by woman, and talk by man with short musical bridges. Jammer switched to 7165 at 0402. VOMBE signal was stronger than usual tonight and could be heard under the jammer. Only it and Radio Ethiopia on 7110 heard here in late evening local time in the 7100-7200 frequency range. (Jim Evans, TN)

Greece- 11645 A puzzle on MondayToday April 20th the ERT Athens service on 11645 kHz contains the same GREEK programme as 9420 and 15630 kHz at present 0500-0800 UT. Is the international sce relay of Filia MW 666 kHz at 0500-1000 UT in Albanian, English, French, Spanish, German and Russian language only on air Tuesday til Saturday? Monday never ? Or is today a special holiday in Greece on Filia broadcaster, - maybe of the Greek Orthodox church on Holy Easter ? (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Apr 20)

"Dear friend of the Voice of Greece"We inform you that yesterdayApril 20th was a special holiday on Greece. Is the day after Greek Orthodox Easter and in Greece we don't work. This was the reason that the ERT Service on 11645 kHz contained the same Greek program as 9420 and 15630 kHz.With our best regards - from Athens.(Apodimoa_ERA5, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Apr 21)(BC-DX #909 via wb, Germany)

Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the raid which members of the Islamist armed group Al-Shabaab carried out yesterday on Radio Jubba in Baidoa (250 km northwest of Mogadishu), closing the station and arresting three of its journalists. Al-Shabaab is in control of Baidoa.

“The climate of terror which Somali Islamist insurgents are imposing on the press has gone on for too long,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The militias are responsible for many of the murders of journalists in Somali in the past two years, and have targeted leading civil society members on the grounds that they are serving the interests of the ‘Crusaders’. If nothing is done to stop them, Al-Shabaab will end up convincing journalists to give up working altogether.”

Heavily-armed Al-Shabaab militiamen burst into Radio Jubba’s studios yesterday evening and ordered the journalists to stop broadcasting. Station manager Muktar Mohamed Atosh, editor Mohamed Adawe Adan and reporter Mohamed Nur Mohamed were arrested. The raid was ordered by the head of security in the region, Sheik Hassan Derow, who accuses the station of “not obeying the administration’s orders.”

Muhidin Hassan Mohamed, the Baidoa correspondent of Mogadishu-based Radio Shabelle, was arrested by Al-Shabaab members on the evening of 16 April, a few hours after the station broadcast a report in which he said residents were subject to extortion by insurgents at checkpoints set up around Baidoa. He was released four days later, after admitting to disinformation.

With 11 journalists killed in the past two years, Somalia is Africa’s deadliest country for the news media. Al-Shabaab is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Predators of Press Freedom.”(Jose Miguel Romero/HCDX)

Israel's Galei Zahal monitoring15784.55 Army forces radio Galei Zahal was on even frequency since Kol Israel ceased their program. But now traced today on a very odd frequency, at 0900-1000 UT, signal S=7-8 in Germany. (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Apr 17)

Radio Netherlands Worldwide expands in IndiaHILVERSUM/NEW DELHI - Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has taken on a new partnership with one of the largest cable networks in India, Incablenet (IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd. of Hinduja Group); This allows around 2 million listeners of Indian households to listen to the English programmes of RNW. The international broadcaster is already collaborating with various FM radio stations, and Incablenet allows the Indian public to access RNW programmes via cable for the first time.

Last year RNW began establishing partnerships with local FM stations and broadcasting organisations such as Radio Misty to provide the Indian population with information about the Netherlands and Europe. And during the India festival in the Netherlands last year RNW covered the event together with All India Radio.

The partnership with Incablenet enables RNW to air its English programmes not only on FM, but for the first time via digital cable. Incablenet, headquartered in Mumbai, is one of the largest and pioneering cable MSO ( Multi System Operator) companies in India. The company currently serves over 6.5 million households in analogue cable and its coverage is expected to grow to over 9 million households in the next two years. The digital cable networks of "Incablenet" also continue to grow rapidly.

RNW's Director General, Jan Hoek says: "India is one of the fastest emerging superpowers in the world. Growing trade, historical and new cultural relations with the Netherlands mean that the need for information about Western countries is growing. Via Incablenet we aim to contribute to fulfilling this need."

Managing Director of Incablenet Ravi Mansukhani: "We are pleased to distribute RNW in our digital distribution networks in India. The radio industry is estimated to have grown at an impressive CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 19.7% over the year 2006-08 in India. Emergence of radio stations like RNW could also help the industry in attracting new listeners and driving up overall radio listener ship. We wish RNW all the success and a long innings in India after this launch."(Rachel Baughn/MT)

Mauritania on 4845Radio Mauritanie Apr 20, 0602-0630. Tuned-in to Koran singing followed at 0608 by music. OM talks in AA over stringed instrument, similar to a guitar. Then switched to piano recording with more AA talk. ID in AA at 0630. Poor to fair signal until CODAR showed up for the first time around 0630 tune-out. (Barker-PA)

Solar activity was very low. No flares were observed. The visible disk was spotless during most of the period.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels during most of the period. ACE observations indicated no significant activity in the solar wind during the period.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity29 April - 25 May 2009

Solar activity is expected to be very low.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to increase to high levels during 08 - 11 May. Normal flux levels are expected during the rest of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at mostly quiet levels through 05 May. Activity is expected to increase to quiet to unsettled levels during 06 - 09 May, with active conditions possible on 06 May, due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to predominantly quiet levels during 10 - 25 May.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Wonder why MT Express the electrponic version of Monitoring Times, is the fastest rising alternative among MT fans ?

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Delivered 10 days before most print subscriptions, no matter where in the world you live It's GREEN: Save both trees for printing and gasoline for delivery to homes and newsstands Download at your convenience, not an email attachment (notification of availability and password arrive by email) Choose high or low resolution (faster download times and smaller file at very little loss in quality)

No postage or printing costs: print only the pages you choose It's cheaper than the print version: only $19.95All web links are active: just click and go Surf to streaming audio sites and listen to scanners, international and domestic broadcasts with a click Click on home pages of international broadcasters from our master list Also send email with a click on an address Color photos throughoutUses free Adobe Acrobat ReaderFind what you're looking for: search for any word or phrase *This function not available on Mac computers

"Turn" directly to desired page by clicking on Table of Contents. In its 27 years, MT has always been on the cutting edge. MT was archived in digital format ten years ago, and became available by subscription eight years ago. The concept has been tested and proved, so how can you go wrong?

Broadcast times on WRN (UTC):0400 North America1000 Africa and Asia1200 North America1300 Europe2200 Asia, North America, Safm

*** Earthbeat (primary programme) ***

On this week's show we look at dead zones. They sound like a bad thing, and they are: massive areas of the sea where oxygen levels are so low that marine life faces a tough choice; swim away or die. And guess who's to blame? Yup, it's us. So what did we do, how bad is the problem, and what can we do about it?

Broadcast times on WRN (UTC):0400 North America1000 Africa and Asia1200 North America1300 Europe2300 Europe

*** Curious Orange (repeat programme) ***

This week on Curious Orange... it's part two of our series on the Dutch in Afghanistan - "Just Doing My Job".

We'll hear stories of soldiers working, fighting, and rebuilding in Afghanistan... including the guy who walks in front of the trucks - scanning for road-side bombs, a police officer who volunteered to go to Uruzgan to train Afghan police troops, a civilian who goes off-base to help Afghan farmers - without helmet, flak-jacket, weapon or any military presence, an "infidel-helping" interpreter, and an army photographer who had to put down his camera to pick up - and use - his gun.

Broadcast times on WRN (UTC):0400 North America1000 Africa and Asia1200 North America1300 Europe2200 Asia, North America, Safm

*** Bridges with Africa (primary programme) ***

We're giving the microphone to Diaspora groups in Europe and are linking up with stations in Africa. The show goes beyond the clichés of starving children and war-ridden countries and seeks to bring you genuine voices from a vibrant continent.

Australia6020, Radio Australia, Shepparton, *0900-1315. A few bars of Waltzing Matilda IS into Pidgin service. English service at 1100 lasting until tune-out. Good signal throughout except during the 1228-1314 UTC Vatican Radio via Philippines. No sign of Radio Gaúcha during the 0700-1315 UTC recordings. (Brandon Jordan, TN/HCDX)

5995 Radio Australia in English and Pidgin to the Pacific with just 10 kw. 0935. Om with news of the Pacific, including several mentions of Papua New Guinea. Barely making it above the noise. (Bruce Barker, PA)

4835, ABC, Alice Springs,0810-0830, Tune in to English comments. Music at 0812 followed by more Phone in calls. Signal fair, as plug pulled at 0830 exactly. Chuck Bolland, FL)

4910, ABC, Tennant Creek, 0822-0830. Music at tune in, followed with comments from males phone calls. This may be // with ABC Alice Springs. Signal is muffled and poor so not absolutely certain. Plug pulled at 0830 exactly. (Chuck Bolland, FL)

6085 Radio San Gabriel, La Paz. Religious music and then into preacher in Spanish with several mentions of Jesus and San Juan. (Bruce Barker, PA)

5952.46, Emisoras Pio XII, 0220-0231* Noted a male in Spanish language comments. Can't determine what the venue is of the comments. At 0226 traditional type music is presented. After the music a small drama is presented, it could be an AD, don't know at this point. The splatter is rather heavy while the signal is poor. "... kiloHertz onda media ..." Live ID which I missed by a male and this was the closing comments. The station went down at 0231.(Chuck Bolland, FL)

6134.83, Radio Santa Cruz, 1018-1030 Not much of a signal in the mornings anymore. Noted a program of music and some comments from a male. This was after the signal faded in to a threshold level. In better times, RSC would be at at least a good level with armchair quality. (Chuck Bolland, FL)

4835, Radio Virgen de Remedios, Tupiza. Spanish at tune-in 2312 a religious ceremony with that reverb from inside of a church, finally, after the ceremony, a definitive ID by male at 0014 “Radio Virgen de Remedios”. I heard until 0018, after much religious talks this week end. Sometimes much noise but getting stronger SINPO 24322 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Brazil)

6160 CKZN St. John's, Newfoundland, 1015. Announcer in English with Labrador Morning' program. Marine weather and then into CBC news. Signal fading from arm chair to threshold and a pretty annoying flutter to boot. (Bruce Barker,PA)

Colombia6009.96v, La Voz de Tu Conciencia, Lomalinda, 0700-fade out - Programs of easy listening vocals and instrumentals, low key talks, inspirational sounding radio dramas. Nominally at equal levels as co-channel R. Mil up to almost an hour after 1110 UTC sunrise in Lomalinda, although better modulation gave Conciencia the edge. Transmitter very slowly drifting between 6009.95-.97 kHz. (Brandon Jordan, TN/HCDX)

6035, La Voz de Guaviare, San José del Guaviare, 0859-1030; transmitter cut-on at 0859 in mid song. Ballads with male announcer between songs with IDs. Full ID at 0957, also mention Radio Cadena Nacional. Young female voice at the top of the hour with a long monologue with constant mentions of Santa Maria. Slop from the mess on 6030 kHz began affecting readability at 1000 UTC, and station beginning to fade by 1015 UTC. Transmitter started on 6030.1 kHz and had slowly drifted down to a few Hz above 6030 by 1000 UTC. (Brandon Jordan, TN?HCDX)

India4970, AIR Shillong, 1322-1335. Back on the air today. Scholastic program with students being verbally given a question in English with multiple choice answers, students picking the correct answer; 1333 back to the studio; "This is the North Eastern Service of All India Radio broadcasting from Shillong on 60.36 meters on shortwave, corresponding to 4,970 kHz."; sports news in assume Hindi; fair. (Ron Howard, CA)

Indonesia9525, Voice of Indonesia, 1045-1100. Noted weak signal with music and comments from a female announcer. Lot's of noise on the band, but bearable. Signal was poor. (Chuck Bolland, FL)

9680, RRI Jakarta, 1055-1100, With steady Islamic music at tune in. Signal is poor with the usual noise. At 1100, Taiwan pops up on the same frequency blocking everything. Normally, this would not be a problem, but Taiwan is being relayed via Okeechobee, Florida's WYFR transmitters, I surmise? Thus, my QTH is only about 20 miles away as the crow flies, so the freq is blocked. (Chuck Bolland,FL)

9525, Voice of Indonesia, 0950-1000 At tune in, notice a male in possibly Korean(listed) language comments. At 0954, music is presented until the hour. At 1001 a female introduces the station and gives frequeuncies, URL. "The Voice of Indonesia, the sound of ..." News followed the intro. Signal was fair. (Chuck Bolland, FL)

9680, RRI Jakarta, 1003-1015 This signal isn't as strong as that on 9525, but 80 percent readable. Noted a male in comments. At 1003 he announcer's ID and then continued in a long discourse in Indonesian language. The signal continued to drop into the noise, but would pop back immediately. (Chuck Bolland, FL)

Iran6095, Voice of Islamic Republic, 0240-0250 Noted a male in steady Pashto language comments with place names such as "India" and "Pakistan". Signal was fair. (Chuck Bolland,FL)

Malaysia6049.61, Radio Suara Islam/Voice of Islam via RTM; 1532-1544. "Malaysia" jingle; in vernacular; “Radio Suara Islam, Kuala Lumpur”; regular Monday educational segment, today featuring “Universiti Putra Malaysia, U-P-M”; this university had its origins back with the School of Agriculture founded by “John Scott”; played nice selection of songs; good reception (Ron Howard, CA)

Russia5940, Radio Rossii, 0940-0950, Russian comment to Russian music. Signal barely audible, however all is not lost. Tuned into 7320 KHz with a good signal in parallel possibly? (Chuck Bolland, FL)

7320, Radio Rossii, 0950-1005. Program of music and Russian comments from a male and females. On the hour, canned ID's as, "Radio Adygeya ..." possibly? Actually the ID sounded like "Radio Ah-key", phonetically speaking. Following the ID, news presented for good signal quality. (Chuck Bolland, FL)

5920, Radio Rossii, Petropavlovsk-K., 0815-0850, Noted a series of programs in the Russian Language by both male and female persons. At 0825 noted an ID by a male as, "...Radio Rossii, programma ...". This followed by more comments from a female. Rossii remains the dominant station on this frequency with a good signal until 0842 At that time WBOH's signal begins to fade in taking over the freq by 0845. Prior to that, WBOH had been in the background. So the rest of the time the signals became a audio "seesaw" so to speak. Rossii went from good to fair while WBOH went from poor to good and I just went! (Chuck Bolland,FL)

5940, Radio Rossii, 0850-0900, Male in Russian with program comments at tune in. Tried to compare 5940 and 5920, but Rossii no longer audible on 5920 at 0854. The male on 5940 continues to talk getting closer to the hour. Signal was fair but with splatter. (Chuck Bolland, FL)

Thailand6040, Voice of America, Udon Thani, 1157-1314. Transmitter on at 1157 into Chinese programming at 1200. Weak and noisy but steadily improving to almost fair by 1314 tune-out. (Brandon Jordan, TN/HCDX)

Station: - HCJB Global AustraliaDate :- 05-03-2009Frequency:- 15400 kHz (Transmitting from Kununurra in the northwest ofAustralia)Time: - 1315-1330 UTCLanguage:- EnglishDescription: - Men at Work building a new home.

Station: - Radio Canada InternationalDate: - 17-03-2009Frequency: - 6165 kHz (via Emirler relay, Turkey)Time: - 0100 UTCLanguage: - EnglishDescription: - Maple Leaf Mailbag Special QSL verified by Bill Westenhaver. 60 Years of Radio Worldwide! Radio Canada International is proud to offer its loyal listeners a series of exclusive QSL cards to mark its 60th anniversary. For 60 years, RCI has been bringing you rich, diverse radio that today include over 300 hours of pogramming each week. Tune in weekly to Ian Johns and his Maple Leaf Mailbag team on shortwave, satellite or http://www.rcinet.ca/

Station: - Radio Free AsiaDate: - 17-03-2009Frequency: - 13605 kHz (IBB Tinian)Time: - 0100-0200 UTCLanguage: - UyghurDescription: - This card commemorates 2009 as the Year of the Ox which began with the Chinese New Year on Monday, January 26, 2009. This QSL is issued for all confirmed reception reports from February- April 2009.

Station: - KBS World RadioDate: - 07-03-2008Frequency: - 7275 kHzTime: - 1800-1900 UTCLanguage: - EnglishDescription: - Suncheon Bay - Registered of one of five coastal wetlands protected by the Ramsar Convention in 2006, Suncheon Bay is famous for having the largest reed fields in Korea and for being a natural habitat for more than 200 kinds of rare birds and 184 species of halophytes.

Station: - Radio Taiwan InternationalDate: - 27-01-2009Frequency: - 9785 kHzTime: - 1600 UTCLanguage: - EnglishDescription: - Trgl. philippinensis. Taiwan – the Orchid Kingdom – has a history of orchid cultivation going back a hundred years and is the world’s largest orchid exporter. Trichoglottis philippinensis is one of the most common flowers in the medium altitude mountain regions of Taiwan between 700 and 2500 meters above sea level. Enjoying humid and cool conditions, this orchid is not large but is exquisitely formed.

Station: - Radio Taiwan InternationalDate: - 17-01-2009Frequency: - 9785 kHzTime: - 1600 UTCLanguage: - EnglishDescription: - Steere’s Liocichla. Steere’s Liocichla belongs to the Timaliidae family. It frequents coniferous and deciduous forests on the slopes of hills and mountains of 900 to 2,500 meters. Steere’s Liocichla has a short, squat body and a yellow spot at the corner of its mouth. People who are unfamiliar with the bird often mistake it for a mountain rat, due to its active personality and love for meandering in ad out of forests.

Station: - Adventist World RadioDate: - 07-03-2009Frequency: - 12120 kHz (100 kW, Agat - Guam)Time: - 1100-1200 UTCLanguage: - ChineseDescription: - Special Edition QSL. AWRS QSL # 3, 1995. From May 1 through July 31, 1995, AWR will test broadcast to North Africa from Gibraltar on a Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation 2 kw medium wave transmitter on 1485 kHz. Programs in English, French and Arabic will air between 1800 and 2200 hours UTC. AWR is pleased to commemorate this event with this QSL card, depicting a pencil drawing of Gibraltar by Daniela Lombini of Italy.

Station: - Adventist World RadioDate: - 16-02-2009Frequency: - 11675 kHz (125 kW, Wertachtal – Germany)Time: - 1500-1530 UTCLanguage: - NepaliDescription: - QSL STAMPS. AWR QSL # 1, Nov 2000. 1. the EKKO stamps were first issued by “The EKKO Company” of Chicago in 1924to verify the reception of radio stations. The EKKO stamp on this QSL card verified the reception of station WEMC, located at the Seventh - day Adventist College (now known as Andrews University) in Berrien Springs, Michigan. 2. The series of QSL stamps showing Ekala was issued by AWR-Asia in Poona, India in conjunction with the 1977 DX Contest. Ekala is the SLBC transmitter site in Sri Lanka that carried AWR programming. 3. The QSL stamp showing Guam verifies the reception of AWR Asia KSDA at Agat on the island of Guam. This series of QSL stamps was issued in 1996.(Mukesh Kumar,The Cosmos Club)

Thursday, April 23, 2009

"Congratulations on QSLing Rwanda," I said to the hobby newcomer. He was shocked to discover what he thought was Deutsche Welle from Germany, was actually from their Kigali, Rwanda transmitter relay site.Location is everything and each transmitter location may count as a new country. In doing so the collector can verify several countries from one station. A few include; Madagascar and Netherlands Antilles from Radio Netherlands and Voice of America relays from Ascension Island, Botswana, São Tomé and Sri Lanka. Verify an extra Canadian site via South Korea's Sackville relay, while Adventist World Radio and Trans World Radio can rake in Guam, South Africa, Swaziland, United Arab Emirates, and more.The list of transmitter sites continue to expand while broadcasters in the United States and abroad trade relays from multiple locations. Next time you band scan, check the frequency in Passport to World Band Radio or the 2008 Klingenfuss Shortwave Frequency Guide. Most stations if requested, will reference the site on your QSL, and you may be surprised at the transmitter location.Who says there's nothing left to hear on shortwave? The transmitter route is an easy way to add to your country or station totals.(Gayle Van Horn/QSL Report. Monitoirng Times)

Today's shortwave BLOG LOGS, represent a portion of additional logs recently cut from my SWBC Logs column in Monitoring Times magazine at http://www.monitoringtimes.com/ due to space constraints. Contributions are always welcome for the magazine or blog, and may be directed to my above email address. Thanks very much to the contributors and blog readers for your kind words and support.Gayle Van Horn

Radio Fides 6155.27, 1035-1055. Spanish among male/female duo to station ID. Advertisements and jingles. Poor signal quality and weak. (Alexander).

Radio Libez (tentative) 4796.28, 1053-1105. Previously this was Radio Mallku, but has since changed their name. Observed a typical threshold with only a suggestion of audio making it, while the carrie was at a poor level. (Bolland).

GuatemalaRadio Buenas Nuevas 4799.8, 1100. Station was here earler after 1100, but not at 1218 recheck. Station back on at 1224, noting marimban music to children's choir's religious tune. Continued marimba selection to announcer's Spanish at 1310. (Evans). On this frequency 0955-1024. (Tancoo).

IsraelGalei Zahal 6973, 0248-0306. Pop/easy listening ballads to announcer's Hebrew program announcement. Station interval signal to announcer duo at 0258. Station identification into news headlines. Back to music program, signal noted as poor-fair. (Barbour).

MadagascarRadio Madagaskira (tentative) 6134, 1330-1402. Regional music to lady announcer in French, joined by male comments at 1349. Additional chats and music to 1400. Fair signal on peaks, but losing stream. Noted the next day, thiugh much weaker and little readable. (Wilkins) RTV Malagasy 5009, 0312. Vernacular text to regional instrumnetal music during fair signal quality. (Barbour).

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Next time you're band scanning, tune around 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 kHz, and you'll hear continuos transmissions of 'beeps' or 'pips' every second, with the time announced in UTC at every minute.Known in the hobby as Time Signals or an STF, these stations are WWV from Ft. Collins, Colorado and WWVH in Kauai, Hawaii. Many listeners use STFs for checking the performance of their equipment and are invaluable as a means to synchronize station clocks to UTC. Dxers also use them to check propagation and reception paths or quality, and the receiver‛s frequency accuracy.While WWV and WWVH broadcast 24 hours a day, other world time stations may broadcast for a few hours or only on certain days of the week. Additional world time stations broadcast their identifications in morse-code, while others may be heard as only a 'beep' or 'pip' signal. CHU in Ottawa, Canada, uses continuous voice transmissions in English and French to identify their time signal transmissions. Additional stations are located in Argentina, Belarus, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Venezuela.Both U.S. stations and Canada's CHU are easy to verify. Two mint stamps will assist WWV/ WWVH stations, while CHU will accept mint Canadian stamps or one IRC. Most foreign stations will generally accept IRCs or mint stamps from their country.For station frequencies and broadcasting hours, refer to the 2009 edition of World Radio TV Handbook.(Gayle Van Horn, QSL Report/Monitoring Times)

Some Bolivian stations that are streamed online are hit-or-miss as far as reliability, and almost all broadcast in Spanish only, so there can be a few barriers for some listeners. But for those looking for a glimpse into the lives of those who live in the heart of the Andes, Bolivian Internet stations provide a rare peek into this fascinating and beautiful country’s culture.

3309.98, Radio Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 1010-1030 and 0028-0145, Indigenous music, talking in Spanish and a discussion with a telephone caller, very poor to strong signal. (Bolland, Ronda and Wilkner)

3310, Radio Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 0020-0110. Quecha talks with mentions of Cochabamba and Andean music in the pauses, also local Bolivian song at 0032 and tentative "echo" ID at 0034, SINPO 35443 (Beryozkin and Timofeyev)

4796.4, Radio Lipez, Uyuni, 2230-0015* New name! Ex R Mallku. Programmes in Aymara and Spanish, ann: "..gracias por estar con Radio Lipez, Radio Lipez en sus dos frecuencias...92.3 frecuencia modulada y 4795 KHz onda tropical...". Pre-ID for Saturday special: "Estas escuchando Radio Lipez...". At close mentioned Federacion Regional Unica de Trabajadores Campesinos del Altiplano Sud and Ms. Cleotilde Yucra as Director. According to a letter QSL from R Mallku in 2000, southwest Potosina comprises 5 provinces: two of these are North and South Lipez. (Rodriguez). Also presumed heard at 1029-1105, Mar 24 and 27, music and Spanish comments. Signal was poor. (Bolland)

5580.20, Radio San Jose, San José de Chiquitos, 2330-0010. This station had been off or not audible in Florida for over a month. (Wilkner)

5952.46, Emisoras Pio XII, Siglo XX, 0057-0230v* Spanish and Quecha preaching, 0226 traditional type music, a small drama is presented, it could be an advertisement, live ID and sign off, 33343. (Bolland and Petersen)

6134.80, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, fade in 2333-0150 and 0915-1039 fade out. Lots of loud and excitable Spanish talk by a male which I believe was a description of a soccer game, ID, signal was poor to fair. (Bolland)

6134.79,. Radio Santa Cruz, 0935-0945, Noted a weak signal here with a male and female conversing in Spanish language. Had to notch out the Brazilian's het from 6135 KHz. Although the range of the notch function on the HF1000 is very wide, it doesn't have the tracking capabilities that the NRD545 notch filter has. Santa Cruz's signal has almost disappearedby 0945 as it fades to threshold status. (Bolland)

6134.76, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 0932-1045. Spanish comments and music, a series of canned advs. The first hour I could barely hear this signal with all of the noise that is present now, but it improved later on. (Bolland)

The website for the BBC's Russian service, BBCRussian.com, has become the latest of the 33 World Service language sites to relaunch.

The page is now over 20 percent wider, giving more space - a full 214 extra pixels, in fact - to showcase the very best of the BBC's Russian language output.

In particular, a new Rolling News index has been added - which allows users to see the latest news stories as they are published onto the site - a first for the BBC language services.

"We are publishing six to eight short stories an hour to reflect the news as it comes in," explains Dmitry Shishkin, editor of BBCRussian.com.

"This is another feature very popular in the Russian market where the audience clearly needs it. We tried to boost the video and interactive presence as well as keeping a very significant amount of news stories and analysis on the front page."

Perfect platform

As a result, there is now more video available than ever within a single click on the site. This will soon be followed by new indexes for all of the Russian radio programmes.

"We always distinguished ourselves as being the only news site in Russian which gives the user the ultimate multiplatform experience. When a big story breaks the user reading our text story is also able to watch an embedded video, a picture gallery, to read and/or contribute to a forum on the issue, to listen to the radio discussion, and to comment on a blog," says Dmitri.

"The new site is a perfect platform for this task."

It follows the BBC World Service sites for English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Persian, Urdu and Portuguese.

"It was always our great disadvantage that the old site looked really different in comparison to the competitors' sites," Dmitry adds.

"We simply looked unusual and rather dated, the site was too compact in Russian terms - the market there is used to very long front pages. So we wanted to address that when we discussed the redesign."

Solar activity was very low. No flares were observed. The visible disk was spotless.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels on 13 - 14 April.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels during 13 - 15 April. Field activity increased to quiet to unsettled levels on 16 April, with an isolated active period observed at high latitudes, due to the influence of a coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS). ACE solar wind velocities increased from 303 km/s at 16/1351 UTC to a high of 547 km/s at 18/1921 UTC. During this period, the Bz component of the IMF varied between -8 nT and +10 nT. Field activitydecreased to quiet levels on 18 - 19 April, and solar wind velocities gradually decreased to 431 km/s at the end of the forecast period.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity22 April - 18 May 2009

Solar activity is expected to be very low.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to increase to high levels during 08 - 11 May. Normal flux levels are expected during the rest of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at mostly quiet levels through 05 May. Activity is expected to increase to quiet to unsettled levels during 06 - 09 May, with active conditions possible on 06 May, due to a recurrent CH HSS. Activity is expected to decrease to predominantly quiet levels during 10 - 18 May.

The Russian WoodpeckerNot an avian at all, the Russian Woodpecker was the vast, faceless and distant enemy of most of the users of shortwave radio in the Western World for eight or nine years, beginning in 1976. Folks were going about their electronic business in North America one day (July 4, 1976. Bathe in the snark), talking to airplanes, ships, each other - and all of a sudden, an enormous stuttering noise slammed down onto an entire range of frequencies. The signal was monstrously powerful, and was heard on wide bands (up to 40 KHz across) on several frequencies in the shortwave bands. It manifested as a harsh, rapid clicking or tapping.Andy Clark, call sign W4IYT, was at the time working for a commercial aeronautics radio company. It maintained communications links between commercial aircraft and their owners, allowing airlines and the like to speak directly to their airplanes while aloft. In a 1999 interview with the Miami Herald, he claims that he named the phenomenon 'woodpecker' for the sound. While talking to his home office, he asked if they, too were getting an awful loud 'woodpecker' noise on their airwaves. They confirmed it.

Fiji's military regime has forced the shut down of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) radio transmitters in Fiji, affecting Radio New Zealand International (RNZI).

ABC Radio Australia said it had been ordered to close its FM relay stations in the capital, Suva, and in the tourist town of Nadi, AAP reported.

"Local sources have since confirmed Radio Australia is off the air in both locations," the ABC said.

RNZI manager Linden Clark said its Dateline Pacific programme was affected by the shut down.

Radio New Zealand International re-broadcasts programmes via the ABC.

Ms Clark said RNZI was still able to broadcast on its shortwave transmitter.

The clampdown comes a day after TV3 reporter Sia Aston, cameraman Matt Smith and ABC correspondent Sean Dorney were deported from Fiji by officials unhappy about international coverage of the political upheaval.

The military government, in power since a December 2006 coup, has gained more strength in recent days following a Court of Appeal ruling that the government was illegal under the 1997 constitution.

In reaction, the country's ailing president Ratu Josefa Iloilo dissolved the constitution, sacked the judiciary and briefly removed Frank Bainimarama from power before reinstating him as prime minister.

Bainimarama has since imposed tough reporting constraints on the media, telling Radio New Zealand this morning that press freedom had been "causing trouble" in Fiji.

Thumbing his nose at democracy, he said he did not want to hear any opposition to changes he imposed.

Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders has called the restrictions on media a "mortal blow" to press freedom.

"The military government is heading dangerously towards a Burmese-style system in which the media are permanently subject to prior censorship and other forms of obstruction," Reporters Without Borders said.

It was appealing to the European Union and United Nations to respond "to this manifest desire to restrict the free flow of news and information by speaking out and firmly condemning media censorship".NZPA, AAP (Alokesh Gupta, India)

The latest episode, No. 147, of the Australian DX Report, a weekly audio news magazine with news and information about shortwave broadcasting, propagation, monitoring notes and schedule updates, is now available.

The site allows you to listen to the ADXR and other audio features directly (streaming audio) via your MP3 player, or via the site's embedded mini-player. Podcasts, iTunes capability, full RSS/XML/Atom feeds, and free subscriptions are supported - full details are at the site.

The ADXR is compiled from the resources of the Electronic DX Press Radio Monitoring Association.

Your comments and feedback are particularly important!

You can also hear the episodes on-air, via WWCR Nashville, every Sunday at 0200-0215 on 5070 and on Mondays 1145-1200 on 15825. The WWCR release is also available as streaming-audio, live, from http://wwcr.com

Good listening to the Australian DX Report Episode No. 147!(Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia)

Washington, D.C., April 20, 2009 - The father of a Somali pirate who is in U.S. custody tells the Voice of America's (VOA) Somali Service that his 16-year-old son is not a "troublesome boy" but he has been misled by gangs and money.

Abdilkadir Muse, the father of Abdiweli Abdilkadir Muse, condemned piracy, saying, "May God save those who are involved." In a telephone interview, the senior Muse said his son had been a student in Galkayo, Somalia. Muse, a nomad who spends time in the eastern part of Ethiopia, said his son lived with his mother.

"For someone who has not seen hunger in his house, who knows about the religion ... what causes him to go on the seas … the only thing I can think of is that because of his young age, he was led into mistaken action," the father said. "You would never expect things like these would be possible from him. He is not a troublesome boy."

The 16-year-old Muse was captured after U.S. Navy sharpshooters killed three other Somali pirates and rescued the captain of the Maersk Alabama, a U.S. cargo ship some 350 miles off the coast of Somalia on April 12, 2009.

The Muse interview is just one of the many stories VOA is reporting on during the piracy crisis. Somalis are receiving up-to-date news and information, participating in call-in shows, expressing their views and listening to exclusive interviews and analysis.

"There are an unknown number of pirates and they are not from one particular region of the country," said Abdi Yabarow, chief of VOA's Somali Service, which has interviewed Somali, U.S. and U.N. officials as well as Somali civilians.

Abdi Rahman Mohammed Farole, president of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia, told VOA Friday that he did not support international troops pursuing pirates in Somalia, even though the U.N. Security Council has authorized anti-piracy operations on land.

Experts say some ransom money has gone to support people in Somalia, a poor country of more than 9 million people. Pirates have also claimed they have seized ships for allegedly dumping toxic waste in the oceans, but that claim has not been substantiated. More than 200 mariners are being held by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

VOA's Somali Service broadcasts three hours daily, seven days a week. Started in February 2007, the service - on AM, FM and shortwave radio and the Internet - has expanded its weekly audience to an estimated 66.4 percent in Mogadishu, the capital. VOA-s English-language website (www.VOANews.com ) has covered the piracy issue extensively.(VOA)

Hi Everyone,Just to let you know the Happy Station for April 23, 2009 at 0100 UTC will not be broadcastdue to special Earth Day program from 2300 to 0200 UTC.

Happy Station this week will only have one edition at 1500 UTC. On May 6th the 0100UTC transmission will be back.

Coming up on this weeks show:Listeners Corner with messages from the Egypt, US and UK.An album signed and given to a listener in the early 60s by Eddie Startz. Thomas Witherspoon a Happy Station listener since the late 80s and early 90s who will talk about an organization he is director of call Ears To Our World which provides SW radios to teachers and schools inAfrica.And music from...... Well tune in to find out.

Air date: April 23, 2009Time: 1500 UTCFrequency: 9955 kHz, 31 meters

And remember I'm giving away two shortwave radios from Sangean the ATS909 and ATS606a, but to enter the lucky draw you must send in your reception report.Regards,Keith(Alokesh Gupta, India)

I have received advice from Rhoen Catolico, Assistant Producer, Adventist World Radio-Asia, that the long-running weekly English language communications/media/DX Wavescan program will be closed down in May.

This is a consequence of a decision made by AWR Headquarters in the USA.

At present, AWR-Asia programming originates from studios in Singapore - from June, production will be moved to Indonesia. The Wavescan program is broadcast from KSDA in Guam, and via the Wertachtal (Germany) relay, for a target audience across Asia, the Indian sub-continent, and the Pacific. It is also rebroadcast over WRMI, in the USA.

Since Wavescan's inception some years ago, EDXP has provided major input each month via our Australian DX Report features, for 15 minutes.

During the month, Wavescan also includes features contributed from other members of the production team, including Japan, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

From June, this will mean that the only weekly media/communications/DX program on SW targeting Asia and the Pacific will be HCJB's DX Partyline, from Kununurra, Western Australia, which has a short version of the Australian DX Report each month of four minutes duration.

It is not known if AWR-HQ in the USA will produce any regular communications/media/DX type programs after May.(Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia)

6925.03 USB North Sea Radio, 0119-0125*, 4/12. playing songs about pirates such as I'm the Worst Pirate in the World and IDs with Seagull sound effects, announced at 0125 "moving to 6935 for the western array" and then gone. good (Srebnick-NJ)

6925.0 USB Voice of Kaos, 0003, Apr 18, English, "Get Smart" theme and then Voice of Kaos ID , This is the Voice of Kaos, "walk this way, talk this way", Pat Benatar "Heart Breaker", "yes, it is true the Voice of Kaos is back and this is our Rock n Roll show", "Hot Blooded" Fair. [Also] 1303-1329, Apr 19, English, Way down in the noise I heard the "Get Smart" music and "This is the Voice of Kaos" 1303 still hearing you but unable to really tell what is going on. Tuned back in just in time for the "Get Smart" theme, signal much stronger..sorry got lured away by the Voice of Indonesia Poor.(Rohde/NASWA)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Teak Publishing, owned by Larry and Gayle Van Horn, published its first book in 2007.

World QSL Book, by Gayle Van Horn, is a comprehensive resource and reference book on CD for any hobbyist who is interested in acquiring a verification of reception of almost any HF station, whether broadcast, utility, amateur radio, or unlicensed pirate or clandestine!For those new to the hobby, the first 90 pages are devoted to the “how-to’s” of QSLing, drawn from Gayle’s 30 years of experience. This includes best general practices in logging, reporting, and mailing your report, and then it moves on to address specific recommended practices tailored to each global region.How do you know where to send the report? Should you try to send a report in a language you don’t speak? What should you enclose in your report? How long should you wait for a reply? Should you send a second report? The book answers these common questions and much more. And lastly, Gayle addresses an often-neglected question: what do you do with your QSL cards and letters after they start to accumulate?As to where to send the report, that is the subject of the remaining 430 or so pages. An astonishing amount of information is contained under logically-organized, easy to follow sections. Each station listing includes mailing address, plus email address, website, and whether the station provides streaming audio. And, being in pdf format, all links are active, so a click will take you directly there if you are connected to the internet.World QSL Book is published in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) electronic format and is fully searchable and printable. It can be run on any computer platform and uses the Adobe Acrobat reader program (a free internet download). Navigation through the book is made simple by a very comprehensive Table of Contents. Although you cannot go immediately to a topic by clicking on it, if you keep Adobe Acrobat’s “Bookmarks” panel open, simply clicking on the desired page number “turns” right to it.Are you looking for a specific station or country? Another way to navigate is by using Adobe’s search engine: Click on the binoculars, type in “Madagascar,” and a few seconds later, 26 entries pop up on the search panel. You can pick the one that looks like the one you want, or manually click through each entry.World QSL Book is available from Teak Publishing, P.O. Box 297, Brasstown, NC 28902 USA teakpub@brmemc.net for $19.95 +$3 shipping in the US (check, money order or Pay Pal). It is also available at the same price from Grove Enterprises (800-438-8155; order@grove-ent.com ).Reviewed by Rachel Baughn, Editor, Monitoring Times